


be good to me

by Marvellous



Series: mac and dennis get a dog [1]
Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 10:36:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20946947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvellous/pseuds/Marvellous
Summary: dennis gets mac a dog, and it doesn't die, and no one eats it!





	be good to me

**Author's Note:**

> i just ran with it. let me be soft okay.
> 
> title from 'martha my dear' by the beatles cause its a cute song ab a dog
> 
> not beta read, all mistakes are my own!

Dennis’ fingers were clasped tight around his steering wheel, eyes darting back and forth from the road to the passengers seat. 

“Would you stop it?” he pushed the furry mass off his console, only getting a happy yip in return, “God, you’re infuriating.”

Truth be told, it was a stupid idea. Dennis absolutely did not want a dog in their apartment. Maybe a cat. A cat he could deal with, he thinks. But yet here he was with a three month old slobbering disaster of an animal in his car, and he was taking it home with him...because he thought Mac would like it. What kind of idiot does that? Dennis Reynolds apparently. 

Sure he could have left it with the hustler on the street, that would have been easier. The logical route of action. Someone would have bought it off him sooner or later, or animal control would have taken it, but for the same reason Dennis wouldn’t leave all the dogs in the pound where they could have been put down, he couldn’t leave this one on the street, even as smelly and dirty and gross as she was. Either he took her and did it right, or she’d be doomed. 

“First,” he spoke out loud, why? Who knows. It’s not like the dog could fucking understand him, “We’re going to the pet store, and getting Mac a book about how to take care of you, because I sure as hell am not doing that, and last time he kind of....well, you know what, nevermind. You’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

He pulled into the parking lot of a pet smart and the puppy tilted her head at him, big ears flopping over.

Dennis hummed, “I should probably figure out a name for you too....yah, otherwise the idiot might name you after me again. Also something I simply do not want to deal with.”

He shut off the range rover, his Steve Winwood CD still playing and he glared at the dog as she started to crawled over onto his lap in a desperate attempt to lick his face.

“Ugh, get off! Hair! Stop!” Dennis did his best to wrangle her off of him, but had little success, only managing to make her sit in his lap instead of smothering him, “Just, hold still.”

She sneezed.

“Valerie? No, that’s too gay,” Dennis muttered to himself as he held her in his arms, well, most of her anyways, her legs were too gangly to keep all of them in check, and started to get out of the vehicle.

He got a few people smiling at him as he lugged her in through the automatic doors. The place smelt like damp wood chips and dry dog food mixed with cleaning products, and it made Dennis wrinkle his nose. 

“Do you need a leash, sir?” a young woman came up to him almost immediately with a disposable leash held out to him.

Dennis set the dog on the floor and narrowed his eyes at the woman as he took the leash, “You think?”

“Just trying to help,” she held up her hands and turned back to the checkout counters she was tending to.

Dennis felt everybody's eyes on him, the centre of unwanted attention as he kneeled on the floor trying to get the leash over the dog’s head, and everything suddenly became very loud. Squawking birds and yelping dogs, the sounds of the overhead fans piercing his ear drums the way a high pitched whistle would to an animal, the fluorescent lights bright and piercing, so much so he had to shut his eyes. His fingers automatically curled into the puppy’s greasy fur. She whined. 

When he opened his eyes, his hands were still shaking and the puppy was staring at him with concerned brown eyes, the way Mac looks at him when he knows something’s up. Dennis felt a lump in his throat. It was too much.

“Do you need help finding anything?” another employee spoke from in front of him.

His first instinct was to snap, but he took a deep breath and stood up instead, a tight smile on his lips as some loose strands of hair fell across his forehead, “Yes.”

Perhaps it wasn't so bad admitting he needed help, it made finding what he needed easier, but his skin still felt hot when he felt other people looking at him, arms full of treats and food and toys, the inexperienced and fish-out-of-water aura about him clear as day. He got through it though. He even managed to find a book for Mac, and the one lady got started on engraving a tag with a name chosen in the spur of the moment. At some point he noticed the people around him became friendlier, and he realized it was all about the damn puppy to begin with, and the attention was never focused on him in the first place. Imagine that. 

“I hope your boyfriend likes her,” the woman says, having just finished bagging his purchase, coming over to give the puppy a scratch behind her ears. 

Dennis blinked. He didn’t remember mentioning boyfriend in whatever small talk he had made...but he must have. That’s what Mac was after all, wasn’t it? But it felt like such a juvenile term for what they had when someone else said it. It was more than that, really. He wouldn’t be bringing home another dog for him if it wasn’t. 

“And here’s her tag,” the younger lady from before smiles warmly as she hands it and the bags of supplies to him over the counter.

Dennis twirls the silver piece of metal in his hand and smiles. Maybe this wasn't a completely terrible idea after all.

……

Paddy’s wasn't open yet, but Dennis could hear Charlie and Dee yelling about something as he stepped up onto the curb, Frank occasionally interjecting as well. Mac was the one voice that was missing. Dennis only poked his head in first, using his knee to keep the puppy from shoving her way in, “Guys, where’s Mac?”

The fighting stopped momentarily, Dee shot a look over to the door, “Why the hell would we know, dumbass? You’re the one who’s banging him.”

Dennis rolled his eyes but took that as Mac wasn’t with them, so he opened the door and dropped the puppy’s leash, her wiggling body making a beeline for Charlie.

“Holy shit, dude, why did you let a stray dog in here? Do you know what kind of diseases it might have?” Charlie yelped as she jumped up on him.

“It’s not a stray,” Dennis quipped, rubbing his shoulder while it got a break from her constant pulling, “I got it for Mac.”

“Well that was stupid,” Frank laughed and turned around to look at the thing attacking Charlie.

Charlie was slowly inching towards the ground in a puddle of laughter as the bundle of energy licked him mercilessly. 

Dee wrinkled her nose, “Yah, didn’t you guys kill that other one?”

Dennis scoffed, “That was completely different circumstances, okay? And I got a book for him this time.”

“Book’s not gonna do shit,” Frank offered. 

Dee came out from behind the bar to get a better look at the dog, then looked at her brother, some genuine concern in her eyes, “Do you even know how much work a puppy is? It’s going to destroy everything, and you have to be with it all the time. What about when you guys have to work?”

“We’ll...get a kennel, or bring her to work with us or something, it’ll be fine,” Dennis shrugged noncommittally. 

Charlie was petting the puppy who was now sprawled across his lap on the floor, tongue lolling out of her mouth happily, “Well, I like her, dude. What’s her name?”

Dennis opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the sound of the back door opening.

“Guys, have you seen Dennis? He won’t answer my texts,” Mac’s voice came from the back of the bar and everyone’s heads shot up.

Dennis winced because in the whirlwind of the days events, he had forgotten to respond to Mac’s text checking in with him. He had initially just gone out to get something at the grocery store, after all.

Being greeted with silence had Mac look up from his phone, a surprised look in his eyes when he saw Dennis leaning against the bar, “Dude, where have you been? Did your phone die?”

Then he saw the puppy with Charlie and any concern turned itself into wide eyed confusion, “Woah. What’s that?”

Charlie nudged the puppy off his lap and stood up, sitting on the stool beside Frank, a smirk on his face.

The puppy bounded towards Mac like she instinctively knew he was her guy, looking like one of those worms on a string with her erratic movements and excessive tail wagging. 

Mac scooped her up without hesitation, giggling as she sniffed him all over, one hand on her collar as he looked at Dennis with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

“She’s yours, man,” Dennis confirmed as he watched Mac fondly, trying to keep his heart at a reasonable pace, swiping Dee’s beer and taking a swig of it.

“Dennis!” Mac grinned and hugged the puppy closer, “Thank you! Oh my god. I won’t let this one die, I swear.”

“Yah, you better not,” Dennis walked closer to Mac and reached his hand out to touch the dog, but hesitated and landed on Mac’s shoulder instead, thumb rubbing a quick gentle circle through the fabric of his shirt.

“What’s her name?” Mac leaned into Dennis’ touch while trying to look at the tag jingling around her neck.

Dennis adjusted her dark blue collar so the tag faced Mac.

“Dutch? Like from Predator? Oh dude, it’s perfect,” Mac looked over at Dennis and had a dreamy look in his eyes, “She’s perfect. You’re perfect. Thank you.” 

In her wiggling, her tag flipped and Mac got a glimpse of the contact info, inscribed with their phone numbers, address, and ‘Mac and Dennis Reynolds’. Mac’s lips parted, a warm feeling spread through his chest. “Den,” he said quietly.

Dennis glanced at the rest of the gang staring at them and cut him off with a shake of his head, “It’s fine.” 

Mac just smiled. It was more than fine, but they both knew the words left unsaid.

…..

**2 years later**

Mac woke up staring at the ceiling, the bedroom bathed in the soft hazy morning light from out the window, no direct sunlight yet. That meant it was definitely too early to wake up. He yawned and turned over to see Dennis on the opposite side of the bed without any blankets, hair wild and mouth parted as he snored softly, dead to the world. Dutch was curled up close to him with her nose tucked under his arm. 

She opened her eyes at Mac’s movement and he chuckled. Dennis would never admit to it, but he adored that dog as much as Mac did, even as she got gigantic, and shed more than they thought a dog could. Once she had settled into their little home, into their lives, it was seamless, really. Like she was meant to be there from the start. 

Turns out, she was a quick way to someone’s good side, an asset, as the gang had quickly found out in their adventures in scheming, and thanks to Mac actually taking the book Dennis bought him seriously, she was actually trained...to some degree. Mac just insisted she was naturally smart. Which was also true. If things got riled up in the group, she added her voice in the form of barks, if someone was particularly heated, she knew she had that special quality to calm them down. 

Her perception for people’s feelings was off the charts, and maybe her presence helped everyone deal with their shit a little better. Maybe. Not all the time, but sometimes was better than nothing. Particularly when it came to Dennis, though. If Dennis was spiraling, she was stuck to him like glue. She’d press her shoulder to his leg and whine, licking the tips of his fingers, and Mac pretended he didn’t see, but he’d watched as Dennis pet her, closing his eyes and grounding himself. 

Mac sighed contently as he reached out his hand to scratch her nose, fingers trailing down to slip into her collar, tag still the same one from two years ago, but the collar replaced with one that sported rainbow stripes, courtesy of Charlie. He gave it a gentle tug.

“Alright, come on,” he whispered, voice thick with sleep, “My turn.”

Dutch huffed, but hopped up to leave her warm space behind for Mac. 

Mac pulled the blankets up around them both and snuggled close to Dennis to share his warmth so the other could wake up comfy and not covered in goosebumps. Kissing his forehead, Mac draped a hand across Dennis’ middle before closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

A weight settled on Mac’s legs as Dutch resettled and stretched out over both of them, tail wagging lazily. Mac smiled. Their life wasn’t so bad with moments like these.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm imagining dutch as a german shepherd/malamute kinda cross, if anyone cares. 
> 
> kudos/comments always much appreciated <3


End file.
